Update 7/14/19 @ 7:30 a.m.: Despite Tropical Storm Barry continuing to bring heavy rain to the area, Carnival Glory is now docked in New Orleans, on schedule.
Meanwhile, Carnival Fantasy is now on its way to Mobile and will board passengers later today. Here is the last text update from Carnival on the sailing:
Conditions have improved and Carnival Fantasy is on its way to Mobile, expected to arrive later this morning. Please add one hour to your pre-selected Arrival Appointments. All guests on board by 4:00 PM (CT). We look forward to welcoming you. This is our final update.
Update 7/13/19 @ 4:30 p.m.: Great news for cruisers aboard Carnival Glory and Carnival Valor! Carnival just announced via text alert that the Glory (arriving Sunday) and Valor (arriving Monday) will arrive at the Port of New Orleans as scheduled. Here is a text alert received from the company:
Carnival Glory will be arriving tomorrow, as scheduled. Please plan to arrive at the cruise terminal within your Arrival Appointment time. We look forward to welcoming you on board. This is our final update.
A similar alert was received for the Carnival Valor.
That these ships will sail as scheduled is surprising to us given that the area is currently seeing heavy rain due to Tropical Storm Barry. As well, the Port of New Orleans has been closed during the storm. However, it’s great news if you are scheduled to arrive back home on one of these ships or if your cruise is set to depart.
As a reminder, the Carnival Fantasy (originally scheduled for Saturday from Mobile) is tentatively scheduled to depart tomorrow instead. See below for more details.
Update 7/13/19 @ 2 p.m.: Carnival announced that Carnival Fantasy is now scheduled as a 4-day cruise, that will hopefully depart tomorrow (Sunday) from the Port of Mobile. As well, passengers will receive a refund for a pro-rated portion of the cruise. If you decide not to sail, you can receive a future cruise credit for your canceled trip.
Here is the full update from Carnival on the Fantasy:
SHIP: Carnival Fantasy
VOYAGE DATE: 7/13/2019 (now scheduled to operate as a 4-day cruise departing tomorrow, 07/14/19).
HOMEPORT: Mobile, AL
STATUS: Operations at the Port of Mobile are still suspended for all commercial inbound and outbound traffic due to adverse maritime conditions caused by the storm. Given today’s delay, our plan is to operate this cruise as a 4-day sailing to Cozumel, departing Sunday, 7/14/19, assuming normal port operations are resumed at Port of Mobile.
Please do not proceed to the cruise terminal until we have confirmed our embarkation plans for tomorrow. Opt in for text alerts by texting CCL3 to 278473.
We realize this is an unexpected change and sincerely apologize for this disruption to your vacation. Given the shortened duration, you will receive the following:
• One day pro-rated refund of your cruise fare
• Automatic refund of any pre-purchased shore excursions, as well as taxes, fees, and port expenses for Costa Maya (processed to your onboard Sail & Sign® account)
• One day pro-rated refund of any pre-purchased beverage packages (refunded within the next 3 weeks to the original form of payment)
• One day adjustment to the onboard service gratuities.
We hope you will continue with your plans to sail with us. Should you elect not to travel, we will provide you with a future cruise credit toward your next Carnival vacation. Additionally, a refund of any pre-purchased items will be processed to your original form of payment within the next 3 weeks.
Please call our Guest Services Department at 1-800-CARNIVAL or your travel advisor if you decide not to sail.
Meanwhile, the Carnival Glory and Carnival Valor are still waiting on the Port of New Orleans to reopen before figuring out when the next cruise will depart.
Update 7/13/19 @ 8 a.m.: Due to Tropical Storm Barry, both the Port of New Orleans and Mobile are still closed.
With the Carnival Fantasy originally set to port this morning in Mobile, that trip will obviously be delayed. Carnival is urging passengers not to head to the port until new embarkation plans are announced. The ship is just offshore of Mobile and should be able to dock soon after the port is reopened.
Carnival Glory is/was supposed to dock in New Orleans on Sunday, but with the port closed and the storm still yet to reach landfall, it’s likely in our opinion that the next departure will be delayed. (Update: As mentioned above, the Carnival Glory will arrive on time for Sunday’s cruise.) The Glory is currently sailing toward New Orleans and is in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, south of the storm.
Update 7/12/19 @ 7 p.m.: An announcement from Carnival confirms that the trips for the Glory, Valor, and Fantasy have been impacted. It has urged passengers not to proceed to the Port of Mobile for the Carnival Fantasy for Saturday’s sailing until they can confirm the ship has arrived in port. At this time the Fantasy is sitting south of the Alabama/Florida border, seemingly waiting for the port to reopen.
Meanwhile, the Port of New Orleans remains closed at this time, at least through Sunday. The cruise line will assess what it will do once the port reopens. That means the Glory (scheduled Sunday) and Valor (scheduled Monday) could be delayed.
Here’s the statement released by Carnival:
Our Fleet Operations Center in Miami continues to actively monitor Tropical Storm Barry. The safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority and our ships will remain a safe distance from the storm at all times. In the event any changes are necessary to these upcoming departures, we will update our guests accordingly.
SHIP: Carnival Fantasy
VOYAGE DATE: 7/13/2019
HOMEPORT: Mobile, AL
STATUS: Port of Mobile remains closed. Do not proceed to the cruise terminal until we have confirmed the ship’s arrival. Opt in for text alerts by texting CCL3 to 278473.
SHIP: Carnival Glory
VOYAGE DATE: 7/14/2019
HOMEPORT: New Orleans, LA
STATUS: Port of New Orleans remains closed. We will confirm our plans once the post-storm assessment process has been completed and the port reopens. Opt in for text alerts by texting CCL2 to 278473.
SHIP: Carnival Valor
VOYAGE DATE: 7/15/2019
HOMEPORT: New Orleans, LA
STATUS: Port of New Orleans remains closed. We will confirm our plans once the post-storm assessment process has been completed and the port reopens. Opt in for text alerts by texting CCL4 to 278473.
We will post another update by 9:00 AM (ET) tomorrow.
Original Article:
If you plan on taking a cruise out of the Ports of New Orleans or Mobile over the next several days, there’s a good chance that your ship will be delayed or otherwise impacted due to Tropical Storm Barry.
As we’ve reported, the Carnival Valor had to divert from New Orleans to Mobile on Thursday due to the storm. Then we told readers that the Carnival Glory (scheduled for Sunday in New Orleans) was likely to be impacted due to the storm.
Now we have reason to think that the Carnival Glory could be affected by Tropical Storm Barry. As well, it appears the Carnival Fantasy (scheduled in Mobile for Saturday) and Carnival Valor (scheduled for New Orleans on Monday) could also be impacted.
Ports Closed to Traffic
While the details of what will happen with the ships and thousands of passengers is still unclear, both the Port of New Orleans and Port of Mobile are closed to traffic at this time.
Carnival recently issued the following travel alert:
Our Fleet Operations Center in Miami is actively monitoring Tropical Storm Barry, located off the Gulf Coast. Port of New Orleans and Port of Mobile are now closed to maritime traffic.
As the safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority, we will continue to keep an eye on the storm and provide you with timely updates as more information becomes available.
In the meantime, please opt-in for text alerts by texting the codes below to CRUISE (278473):
Port of New Orleans
Carnival Glory – 07/14/19 – CCL2
Carnival Valor – 07/15/19 – CCL4
Port of Mobile
Carnival Fantasy – 07/13/19 – CCL3
We will post another update today by 8:00 PM (ET).
Cruzely has also been in contact with the Port of New Orleans, who told us that “The Port of New Orleans is closed til Monday, and only essential personnel are working.”
We will continue to update readers as we learn more about the changes to the cruise schedule for the Glory, Valor, and Fantasy. However, as of now it seems that all three could be delayed. With the Port of New Orleans closed until Monday, that seems to mean the Carnival Glory could either be delayed or head to another port to disembark passengers. (Update: As mentioned above, Carnival has said the Glory will still sail as scheduled on Sunday.)
If you are on one of these cruises, you should subscribe to the text alerts from Carnival, which will provide you with up-to-date details about changes to the schedule.
